Snowplow



Oct. 30, 1945.

E. WANDSCH EER SNOW PLOW Filed July 14, 1941 INVENTOR Ever) h a/za scfiecr SJ. s An'o same direction,

Patented Oct. 30, 1945 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE 7 t e 2,387,959 SNOWPLOW Evert Wandsc heer, Sioux Center, llowa Application July 14, 1941, Serial No. 402,270 1 claim. (01. 37-43) My invention relates to snow plows. An object of myinvention is to provide a snow plow which can be attached to the forward end of a truck or other heavy vehicle;

A further object of my invention is to provide a rotary cutting system having right and left hand pitches provided to move the snow to a central position, said system including blades having a partially arcuate configuration to move the snow inwardly.

A further object of myv invention isto provide an opening for receiving the snow with afurther fan casing for ejecting the snow.

A further object of my invention is to provide an'up'per snow guide shield which can be elevated as desired or moved to either side. i

A further object of my invention is to provide a pair of guide blades at either side of the plow casing, which blades will 'co-operatively move with thesteeri'ng spindles of the vehicles pushing the plow so that the-blades will move in the A further object of my invention is to provide a protecting shield which can be placed in inoperative, or operative position. a i

Another object of my invention is to provide disc members supporting the plow casing with said discs being at a substantial angle to the ground to preventlsnow and ice gathering onthe A further object of my'invention is toprovide cutting blades which cut uniformly into the snow from the outer extremitiesto the inner portions thereof.

With these and other objects in View, my invention consists in the' construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth,

pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a substantially isometric view of the casing and blade structure with further attached portions,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the casing, and fan housing as attached to a vehicle,

Figure 3 is a detail of the spindle turning arrangement, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken through one of the blades along the lines 4-4 of Figure 1.

I have used the character ID to designate the side walls of a semi-cylindrical casing having the semi-cylindrical rear wall H, and journalled at 12 to either side member I is the horizontal shaft 13 including a central hub 14 which is at- Q is controlled by the rod 46 which passes to the tached to spokes l5 which in turn are attached at [5 to the blades ll, I8, 55, and 20. Theinner ends of the blades 11, I8, [9, and 26 include central portions 2 i which are adapted to overlap the center of the casing, and the extreme outer edges 22 of the blades are adapted to rotate in apath lower than the lower cutting edge 23 of the casing and substantially close to the ground.

The arcuate portion H of the casing includes the substantially oval opening 24 which con-ununicates with a cylindrical fan housing 25 which includes the series of radially arranged fan blades 26 attached to the shaft 2! journalled within the portion 28. Hingedat 29 to thesides It are the vertical guide flaps 30 which include the cam portions 3| received within the cut out portions 32 of the sides ID. The portions 3| are bent out of the vertical position and at an angle thereto and are received within the forks 33 which are pivoted at 34 and extend into the arms 35 which are pivotall attached to the rods 36 which in turn areattached at 31 to arms 33 (see Figure 2) which arms are attached to shafts 39,,to which shafts are attached further arms in which are in turn pivotally attached to the rods 411. The rods 4| are attached at 42 (see Figure 3) to the spindle arrangement of the vehicle comprising the curved bar 43 which is attached at 44, and extending from the point 44 is the arm 45 which steering arrangement of the vehicle. Movement of the rod 45 in either directionwill correspondingly swing the arm 45 as well as the member 43 carrying the bar 4| forwardly or rearwardly which in turn will rock the arm 38 forwardly or rearwardly, which in turn will pivot the arm 35 about the pivot 34 which causes engagement of the fork portions 33 with the angularly inclined portions 3| so that as a result steering of the vehicle will cause the vertical side flaps 30 to move in the same direction as the vehicle is bein steered.

The plow blades and fan are operated by means of a bevel gear 4'! which is driven from the power take-off shaft 48 of the vehicle which bevel gear meshes with a further smaller bevel gear 49 which is attached to the long shaft 50 which is journalled within the bearing 5| which is attached at 52 to the frame 53 of the vehicle. The shaft 50 is attached to a further bevel gear which in turn meshes with the larger gear 54 supported at the front end of the vehicle which drives a shaft 55 which in turn is attached to a sprocket 56 which drives the chain 51 which drives the further sprocket 58 which is attached to the shaft l3, the aforesaid mechanism serving to rotate the cutting blades in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 1, it being noted from Figure 2 that the blades travel closely to the ground surface. A pair of brackets 59 are attached to the rear of the casing II and rotatably journalled at the end of these brackets are the disc members 60 which are at a substantial angle or about 30 from the ground plane, and which serve to support the plow and yetallow forward movement of the same, this arrangement of discs tending to be self-cleaning in that only a minor portion of the disc is in contact. This arrange: ment provides the feature of supporting the plow,

as well as allowing forward movement of the plow and is free from ice and other obstructions, Pivotally attached at 6| to the sides In are the arms 62 which are attached to an upper shield-mem ber 63 having a forward up-turned lip 64 and a rearward down-turned lip 65, and beneath the same is a further arcuate shield 66 having the same shaped lips. The arcuate portion ll of the casing also includes a forward upwardly bent lip 61. When the arm 62 is swung to a horizontal position the engagement of the lips 64 and 65 will carry the entire shield. The shield members are mutually supported, since the turned lips are concavely opposed to each other which thereby locks them together when the shield is lowered, the lip 61 serving to support both sections. The arms 52 being attached to the shield member 63, will force the inner shield member down to this position. This provides a guard for covering the cutting reel to prevent accidents and can be used to prevent ice and snow from working ahead of the reel. The outer edges 22 of the blades in clude the cupped inwardly turned sharpened edges 68 to provide a slicing action inwardly and to assist in conveying the snow inwardly and rearwardly to the fan. Attached to the plow casing is the bracket 69 and attached to the fan casing is the further bracket H1 in which brackets are formed the openings H in the angular portion 12 which portion 12 also include the gear racks l3. Engagedwith the rack 13 are a pair of gears 14 attached to a shaft 15 which is attached to the deflecting housing 16. In position beneath the housing 16 are the side members 11 which are open to the fan and further members 18 including 19. By swinging the deflecting shield on its shaft to either direction the snow can be thrown to either side of the highway. Also the housing 16 can be raised to a higher position as shown by the dotted figures by rotating the handle 80 which is attached to the shaft 15 which adjust the throwing height of the plow. Any suitable means can be employed to maintain the deflecting shield in position after it has been raised.

The fan mechanism or the shaft 21 can be driven by means of a suitable beveled gear arrangement mounted rearwardly on the fan casing 25 and driven from the shaft 55.

It will be noted th'atthe blades l1 and I8 are pitched oppositely to the blades I9 and 20, such pitch being to carry the snow inwardly, so that as a result rotation of the blades in the same direction will transfer the snow to the center of the casing.

The pivoting of the flaps 30 allows the plow to travel efiicientlyand smoothly when turning inasmuch as the flaps will break away the snow ahead in the proper path.

"It will now be seen that the entire structure functions cooperatively as the vehicle travels forwardly through the snow with the blade members carrying the snowi-nwardly and rearwardly through the fan housing and thence outwardly, with the flaps 36 moving in the same direction as the vehicle is steered with the disc pro.- vidin an efficient self-cleaning support so that the entire plow can be used inice or snow, in restricted or wider areas, etc.

It will now be seen that the various advantages set forth in the objects of my, invention havebeen achieved with th other advantagesbeing apparent.

Some changes maybe made in theconstruction and arrangement of the parts of .my invention without departing from thereal spirit and pur pose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope,

I claim as my invention:

A snow plow comprising a forward generally semi-cylindrical horizontal casing, a shaft journalled within said horizontal casing, said shaft carrying oppositely pitched spiral blades attached at either end of the shaft and passing helically toward the center of the horizontal casing, said blades being of limited width, andbeing spaced a substantial distance from the shaft, a fan cas-. ing communicating with said generally semi-cylindrical casing, the inner ends of said blades overlapping the center of the horizontal casing.

EVERT WANDSCHEER, 

